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Title page for ETD etd-03232016-112909

Type of Document

Master's Thesis

Author

Locher, Julianne Marie

Author's Email Address

julianne.m.locher@vanderbilt.edu

URN

etd-03232016-112909

Title

Factors Impacting the Retirement Experience of Professional Football Players

Degree

Master of Arts

Department

Medicine, Health, and Society

Advisory Committee

Advisor Name

Title

Hector F Myers

Committee Member

Kenneth T MacLeish

Committee Member

Keywords

football

retirement

athletes

Date of Defense

2016-02-29

Availability

unrestricted

Abstract

Professional athletes are at unique risk for difficulties during retirement due to factors such as early retirement age, identity change, and financial instability. Due to factors such as the high physicality of the sport, majority minority presence, and large public viewership of football, retired NFL players are especially at a higher risk for negative retirement experiences. A review of the available published literature on retirement of NFL players revealed the six most impactful factors in shaping football players’ retirement experience, primary identity, health, retirement decision, meaningful post-employment activity, financial status, and available support resources. Eight case studies of former players, four Caucasian and four African-American, were conducted to analyze the role these factors played in the players’ retirement experiences. Out of the six factors, health, available support resources, and financial status were the most salient contributors to the quality retirement experiences they had. From this, it was concluded that changes in the current NFL system are needed to better protect players’ physical and mental health and to prepare them for retirement in terms of financial planning courses and networking workshops.